Jet engine maintenance specialist Sanad said its new aircraft engines overhaul deal with Pratt & Whitney will more than double its workforce and create more than 1,000 new jobs in Abu Dhabi, providing high-tech roles for Emiratis and diversifying economic activity.
The Mubadala-owned Sanad will increase its workforce to as many as 2,000 employees, up from 700 in 2025, as it prepares to open a new maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in Al Ain by the end of 2028, Mansoor Janahi, managing director and chief executive of Sanad, said in an interview on the sidelines of Idex 2025 in Abu Dhabi.
"Job creation with this new project will be 1,080, based in Al Ain. Our current workforce is 600 and we're going to be 700 by the end of this year. So you're talking about a workforce of anywhere between 1,700 and 2,000 [people] for this project," he told The National. "Currently our Emiratisation rate is 32 per cent and we are looking to reach over 50 per cent with the new project."
The 30-year agreement with Pratt & Whitney is a "step-change" for Sanad because it will become the only MRO service provider for GTF engines in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia regions, according to Mr Janahi.
Pratt & Whitney, which is owned by US aerospace giant RTX, last week said it added Sanad to its global network of GTF engine maintenance providers. The Al Ain-based facility will service PW1100G-JM and PW1500G engines for the Airbus A320 Neo and A220 aircraft, respectively, as well as the PW1900G engine for the Embraer E-Jet E2 aircraft with full MRO services and test capability.
The Pratt & Whitney GTF MRO network includes 20 shops across four continents, providing aftermarket services. The installed base of the GTF is 5,000 engines – powering the Airbus A320 Neo, the Airbus A220 and the Embraer's E190-E2 and E195-E2 aircraft – which is expected to double to 10,000 engines that will provide a strong demand for aftermarket services, according to Mr Janahi.
Sanad's share of GTF engines' maintenance will be roughly 15 per cent of the global market, he said. This is expected to result in 360 shop visits per year, in addition to the 170 that Sanad completed in 2024 and the 200 shop visits it expects this year, he added. Its existing facility has capacity for 250 engines.
Construction of the GTF facility will start "immediately" and when completed will span 64,000 square metres, Mr Janahi said. Sanad will invest in the construction of the plant, the company's boss said, declining to provide the size of investment or the means of funding.
Skyrocketing engine maintenance demand
Separately, Sanad last week also announced that it will expand its MRO operations by using an existing facility in Al Ain belonging to Abu Dhabi's Ammroc, an MRO service provider for military and commercial aviation. Ammroc's plant spans 4,900 square metres and will become Sanad’s fourth facility as it increases capacity to meet rising global demand for MRO services. This facility will expand Sanad’s production capacity from 250 to 300 engines per year.
Soaring air travel demand and delays in new jet deliveries are forcing airlines to keep older aircraft in their fleet for longer, putting pressure on repair shops globally. Surging demand for jet maintenance also comes as airlines and manufacturers struggle with supply chain snags in the wake of the pandemic and more frequent engine repairs.
"There's a huge demand for engine MRO services and we work with all OEMs and we've built that credibility and trust. The OEMs are coming to us to say 'we'd like to do more'. The Ammroc facility in Al Ain will be purely to address the existing portfolio," Mr Janahi said. Sanad's new facility in Al Ain will be operational by end of 2028 and will be "purpose-built" to specifically service the GTF engines, he said.
"Our strategy has been to invest in a diversified product portfolio with a nice mix of legacy and new-generation engine. We are seeing legacy [engines] flying longer and the new ones having challenges in terms of durability. So the strategy is coming together from a maintenance perspective because there is demand for legacy and new engines," Mr Janahi said.
"It's always been a strategy to future-proof the business ... with multi-OEMs and multiple products." That strategy to diversify the portfolio has paid off in terms of reducing risk, he added.
'Tremendous opportunity'
Sanad has a long-standing relationship with Pratt & Whitney spanning more than 12 years through an MRO deal for V2500 engines that power the classic version of A320 aircraft. The agreement to add Sanad to Pratt & Whitney’s GTF MRO network is part of RTX's offset programme with the UAE's Tawazun Council, the companies said.
There are 11,000 GTF engines on order to date so there is a "tremendous opportunity" for aftermarket services, Marc Meredith, vice president of GTF Aftermarket Programmes at Pratt & Whitney, told The National. Pratt & Whitney's upgraded engine, the GTF Advantage, will be coming to market and the company is looking to win a share of the 34,000 single-aisle aircraft that airlines will require over the next two decades.
"We see a long, bright future for the GTF as a programme, so as part of that, we need to have a number of engine overhaul centres to repair engines and that's where Sanad comes in," he said. Having an MRO centre in the region for GTF engines will save transport time and cost, filling the gap that existed in its global network of centres, he added. P&W will train 20 Sanad engineers on overhauling GTF engines and then they will train the local workforce.
The deal will help ease MRO service capacity and satisfy the existing order and new orders in the future, Mr Meredith said. He declined to comment on the problems currently facing the GTF engines. A rare powder metal defect in these engines has affected mainly the A320 Neo jets, leading the manufacturer to call for inspections.
